


Failing to See

by sharkie335



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Blindfolds, Gags, M/M, Sex Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-09
Updated: 2010-09-21
Packaged: 2017-10-11 15:10:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/113750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharkie335/pseuds/sharkie335
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I know you're not afraid of a few toys."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was on PXR-921 that they heard of the market. Held by the Rocherans, it supposedly sold almost everything that one could wish for, and Rodney immediately started agitating for them to go there. "They could have a ZPM! Or something else ancient that we could use! Why not go? It's at least worth a look."

"Teyla? Do you know of this market?" Elizabeth asked.

"I have heard of it, but only in rumors and legends. Supposedly, the Wraith do not hunt there, though no one knows why. It should be safe enough to go there and see for ourselves." Teyla looked serene and serious, but she always did.

John spoke up as well. "It's at least worth a look, Elizabeth. The worst that could happen is that it's all smoke and mirrors, but if the rumors are true, we could find something really useful."

Elizabeth looked seriously from one to another, while Rodney practically bounced out of his chair and John leaned back in his seat. With one last glance at Teyla, she finally nodded. "You have a go, then. Be careful."

Rodney practically flew down the stairs, and was geared up before anyone else even got to the ready room. He bounced on his toes at the door, waiting for the rest of the team to put on their vests and fetch their weapons. By the time they returned to the gate room, even Ronon was smiling at Rodney's excitement, which was proving to be infectious.

"Dial the gate," Elizabeth said from the control room, and John laid a hand on Rodney's arm, stilling him in place. They waited impatiently as the MALP went through, reporting that there was no one in the immediate vicinity of the gate, and then they went through.

There was a large clear path, practically signposting which way to go. They didn't have to go far when they could _hear_ it - the sound of large numbers of people, all talking, laughing, shouting. As they crested the hill, they all stopped.

John had never _seen_ so many people in one place in the Pegasus galaxy. There had to be thousands of them, surrounding tents and small buildings, milling about. John took Rodney's arm again, stopping him from going down the hill. "Don't you think we should figure out the lay of the land before we go down there?"

"What? It doesn't look that organized - we should just go stand to stand, and see what we can find."

But John was shaking his head. "Trust me, McKay, it'll be organized, at least to type of stuff. It would be useful if we can find a local guide, and I have a pretty good idea of how to get one." Turning to Ronon, he pointed down the hill. "Any idea if you can find the equivalent of a pub, Ronon?"

Ronon grinned and swiped a hand over his face. "No problem." He lead the way down the hill, while Rodney fell in directly behind him and started fidgeting with his scanner and Teyla took their six, leaving Sheppard to walk with Rodney and make sure he didn't trip in a hole or something.

"Anything interesting?"

Rodney grunted. "Well, there's no ZPM as far as I can tell, but there _are_ various energy sources down there that are worth checking out."

Chuckling, John let Rodney get back to his readouts, keeping a weather eye out for anything that might affect them, or cause Rodney to trip. Some things never changed.

Just then, Rodney lifted his head and looked at John, really _looked_ at him, and John felt his face flush. No, some things never changed, but sometimes they did, and for the better. He still couldn't believe that he was sleeping with a man, much less Rodney, but it was definitely worth it. And when Rodney smiled at him like that, it was everything he could do not kiss him, even though they'd agreed to keep it away from missions.

Forcing himself to turn away, he followed Ronon down the hill and into the market. Without missing a step, Ronon headed to the right, and then an almost immediate left, and there in front of them was a bar. John pulled out one of the small disks of platinum that they'd cast. So far, they hadn't found anyone who'd refuse to accept them as currency. "Four beers, please."

The bartender smiled at the metal in his hand, showing a mouth full of gaps and brown teeth, and it took everything John had not to recoil, instead leaning forward. "So, we're looking for technology. Maybe you could tell us where to look?"

The coin disappeared into the bartender's meaty hand, and he smiled even wider. John stayed in place, only vaguely aware that Rodney was pulling back and being shushed by both Teyla and Ronon. He didn't need to hear him to know that he was probably complaining about the complete lack of dental hygiene.

"Depends on the kind of technology, friend. If you're looking for pretties, you go that way," pointing left, "And if you're looking for weapons, you go _that_ way." This time he pointed straight ahead. Gathering up the mugs, John nodded at him.

"Thanks a lot." Distributing the mugs to the members of the team, he said in a soft voice, "Well?"

Rodney didn't even look up from his scanner. "The pretties, as that Neanderthal described them, appear to be the source of the energy readings. That's the direction that the readings are coming from, anyway. Everything else appears to be more primitive."

Shaking his head at Rodney's rude words, John looked at Teyla and Ronon. Teyla looked calm, sipping at her beer. Ronon had already drained his and was obviously straining his patience, because he clearly wanted to go look at the weapons. John really couldn't blame him - that's where he wanted to go as well.

Teyla solved the problem for him. "I will go with Doctor McKay to examine these energy signals. You and Ronon should go see if there is anything in the weapons area."

John hesitated. He really didn't like the idea of separating the team, but they hadn't seen anything dangerous, and they really could use a greater variety of weapons on Atlantis. Maybe he'd even be able to find another gun like Ronon's. "Stay in radio contact and check in every fifteen minutes," he finally said, and Teyla inclined her head at him.

Rodney had already started to move off, totally engrossed in the readings he was getting, and John watched them for a moment. He startled when Ronon clapped him on the back. "So, weapons?"

"Weapons." He grinned at Ronon, and the two of them moved off.

***

Four hours passed in relative peace and quiet. When the bartender had referred to weapons, John had had no idea that there would be _that_ many. There had to be dozens of booths and hundreds, if not thousands of weapons. Ronon had already bought several knives, making them disappear in his typical way. John had bought himself a new boot knife, for that matter.

There were weapons ranging from primitive guns to slingshots, to what looked like various energy weapons. Judiciously, he picked over them, finally selecting three that he thought the science sections might be able to reverse engineer, and turned his attention to haggling the price down. His experience in the markets of Afghanistan came in handy, and he felt pretty good about the final prices.

Just as he was reaching for the radio to call Teyla, Rodney buzzed him. "I think we're done here, Colonel. What about you?"

"Just finishing. Meet you back at the bar?"

"If you can dignify a hole in the wall with that, sure." The radio clicked off, and John looked for Ronon, who was looking at yet another knife.

"I think you have enough. Besides, we'll probably be back."

Ronon grunted, but set it down and looked up. "Meeting up again?"

John nodded and turned to go, only to realize that he wasn't sure which direction. He looked around, and finally turned to Ronon, who just gave him a shit-eating grin and started to lope off, John following in his wake.

They beat Teyla and Rodney back, but only by a few minutes. "Everyone find what they were looking for?"

Teyla looked - well, she looked amused. And when John caught Rodney's eye, he _blushed_. John wanted nothing more than to ask him what was going on, but instead he just waited a moment, and when no one said anything, nodded. "Right. Home it is."

On the walk back to the gate, he noticed that both Teyla's and Rodney's packs were bulging, and he wondered how much of their currency had been spent. He couldn't argue, though, and he thought about the weapons stored in his own pack with satisfaction. If the science section could make more of them, they'd make a welcome addition to the armory.

The walk back to the gate was uneventful, and they weren't even attacked as they went through, something that was practically unheard of. Elizabeth was waiting for them as they came through, and she eyed them with well-concealed anxiety. "Everyone okay? Any luck?"

"Well, there wasn't a ZPM, but I found plenty of Ancient devices that should keep the science team busy for weeks," Rodney said. Strangely enough, he was still blushing.

John shrugged off his pack and opened it up, pulling out the energy weapons and handing them over. "Add these to the fun and games of the science department. Maybe you guys could figure out how to make a few more?"

Rodney took them without saying anything, and more interestingly, without meeting his eyes. "I'll take them right down, Colonel. Maybe we could meet for dinner to discuss what we've found?"

John crooked a grin at Rodney. "Sure. My quarters? I'll brief Elizabeth."

Rodney gave a sharp nod and turned, headed towards the labs, then paused and turned to look at Teyla. _Something_ passed between the two of them, and Teyla nodded, then he resumed his trek towards the lab.

Puzzled, John watched him go, then turned and followed Elizabeth to her office.

***

John had forgotten about Rodney's puzzling behavior in favor of monthly reports when his radio went off on one of the private channels. "Colonel?"

"Yeah, McKay?"

"Can we meet in my quarters instead? In say, forty-five minutes?" John glanced at his watch. Forty-five minutes would give him time to go for a brief run and shower before meeting up with Rodney.

"I can do that. Anything you need me to bring?"

"No, uh, I have everything under control. See you then."

John stood and stretched, and then moved out into the hall. If he went fast, he'd have just enough time to make it to the east pier and back. It didn't take long for him to warm up, muscles moving smoothly to bring him up to speed. Running with Ronon had its benefits.

As he ran, he puzzled at the mystery that was Rodney. Before they'd started sleeping together, John would have said that there was nothing mysterious about Rodney - that everything about the man was written out loudly on his face. Then they had fallen into bed together, "I'm not dead" sex that became something more, and he realized that Rodney had a side that no one saw, except him.

Rodney could be playful in his work, but that was nothing compared to what he was like in bed. Literally _nothing_ was off limits to Rodney. He was just as happy to kiss John as he was to play with John's feet, and everything in between, and if John gave the slightest indication that he enjoyed it, Rodney dove in with great enthusiasm. It worked both ways, because if John wanted to try something, Rodney was all for it, experimenting happily.

John had never slept with someone so open to new experiences, and it made him willing to try things that he'd never thought he'd enjoy. He could feel himself flushing, even above the heat from running, as he remembered three days earlier, when he'd laid on his stomach and let Rodney play with his ass for what felt like hours, before he finally slicked himself up and pushed in.

He'd vaguely expected it to hurt, but Rodney had been so slick and he'd been so relaxed that there wasn't anything but pleasure in it. And that remembered pleasure made him hard again, which wasn't a good thing when running, so he forced himself to think about something nice and mind numbing, like inventory, until his hard-on went away.

He was back at his room before he'd expected, and he jumped into the shower. There, he was assaulted with the images of Rodney, and he was tempted to take himself in hand, so to speak. But with the change in plans to have to dinner in Rodney's room came the assumption that there would be more than a meal, and if he could get Rodney's mouth on him, it was worth waiting for.

Instead he cleaned up quickly and got dressed in civvies, compromising by wearing his thigh holster and gun. Glancing at his watch again, he saw that he was almost late, so he hurriedly finished dressing and made his way down the hall to Rodney's room.

The door opened for him as he approached, and he hurriedly stepped inside, willing the door closed again. It shut obediently enough, and he looked around curiously, wondering where Rodney was. He hovered uncertainly for a minute, then shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed. It wasn't unusual for Rodney to be late, so he'd give him a few minutes before he called him.

He was just starting to get comfortable when he noticed the pack in the corner. Frowning, he stood back up. That didn't look like Rodney's pack, which had a fairly sizeable tear in one side. In fact, it looked like Teyla's. Why would Teyla's pack be here, instead of in the gear room?

But before he could pick up the pack, the door opened, showing a flustered and stuttering Rodney. "Sorry, sorry, sorry - those morons in the lab couldn't understand what I meant when I told them not to touch, and I spent the last hour undoing their damage. But that doesn't matter - here." He thrust out a tray that held two of everything. John took it, bemused, as Rodney leaned on the chair and took off his boots.

Taking the tray back, he set it on the corner of the desk, and then flopped down in the desk chair. "Well, what are you waiting for? I told you dinner, right?"

"Hi to you too, Rodney," John said, leaning forward a little. He really wanted a kiss, but he didn't want to say anything. Rodney seemed to get it, though, leaning forward and brushing his lips over John's softly.

"Hi. Food's gonna get cold." And when John looked at the food on the tray, he noticed that it was still steaming. It was a good thing too, because tonight's vegetable was the stuff that they'd gotten from the Mathosians, and it was barely edible hot. Cold, it was disgusting.

Picking up a fork, John steeled himself for the grey-blue stuff, and started eating. Rodney showed no hesitation, shoveling it down as fast he could, talking all the while. Apparently the stuff that they'd found at the market was mostly small stuff, though there were a few pieces of Ancient tech mixed in with other things. Rodney had managed to get a pretty good deal by not touching the Ancient stuff at all, and buying a mixed lot that included it. But when he'd gotten it into the lab, it turned right on and appeared to be another variation of their scanner; only this one could be programmed to pick out specific individuals.

That did sound pretty cool.

Only as they finished the last of the Jell-O did Rodney slow down, his fluid motions becoming jerky and slow. John grinned at him, not saying anything but trying to make it obvious that he was up for anything Rodney wanted to do, even if it was just watch a movie. God, he hoped that Rodney wanted more than that.

When Rodney didn't move, John leaned forward and kissed him gently, chastely. "Is something wrong?"

Only to find himself pushed back on the bed, flat on his back, as Rodney attacked his mouth, kissing him hard and dirty. John had never realized that you could kiss like that, and he loved every minute of Rodney kissing him, making him instantly hard and wanting.

He was so into it that when Rodney pulled back, he followed blindly, trying to get more of his mouth. It took him a moment to realize that Rodney was whispering into his mouth. "Shh, John, I'll be right back, but you have to let me go now."

It was a wretch, but he managed to let go, and Rodney immediately stood up and crossed to Teyla's pack. "So, one of the places we stopped at today had some interesting things."

"That's nice, Rodney, but can show and tell wait till later? I kinda liked what we were doing," John growled.

"No, I really don't think it can." And Rodney started to pull stuff out of the pack. There was a piece of material, and a handful of large beads linked on some sort of chain, and then there was a...

"Rodney. Is that... Why does Teyla have a dildo in her pack?" That was bringing up all sort of images that John really didn't want to deal with, and he knew that he was blushing.

"Because there wasn't room in my pack?" Rodney was trying to sound innocent - and failing miserably. It wasn't helped by the fact that he was blushing even harder than John was, which at least made him feel a bit better about the whole thing.

"Rodney..."

"Okay, fine. We found, well, a sex shop, and Teyla wanted to look and then I saw some things, but my pack was already full, so I stashed them in Teyla's pack, and if you could not say anything else about it I'd really appreciate it."

John swallowed, trying not to let his mind run away with the sentence, "Teyla was in a sex shop." First of all, Teyla still kicked his ass on a routine basis. Secondly, he had a boyfriend who was more than willing to get him off frequently. Thirdly, and not to be forgotten, was the whole ass kicking thing. Shaking his head finally cleared it of the unwanted images.

"So what do you think you're going to do with this stuff?" he said instead, pointing at the other toys that were making an appearance.

Rodney just looked at him hopefully; hands still busy pulling things out of the pack. "Jesus, Rodney! I'm not going to let you use all this stuff on me! That's just..." _hot_, his mind supplied. "...too much for me."

"Well, I wasn't going to try it all at once, and you can use it on me if you like. But maybe just two things? At least try them?"

John didn't say anything, staring at the small pile of toys on the bed between them. He knew that everything they'd done was insanely hot, but this was scary in ways he didn't want to think about. Before he could say anything, though, Rodney continued on. "I know that you're not scared of a few toys, John. And I'll make a deal with you. You let me try, and then you can use whatever you want on me."

Looking over the pile of toys, John spotted what he thought was a gag. And there was that dildo... Before he could think better of it, he opened his mouth and said, "Okay. But only two."

Rodney gave him an honest, open grin. "Two it is. Now which two?" Except that his hands were already busy, moving most of the toys into the small chest that he was using as a nightstand. When he was done, there were the beads and the small piece of material.

They looked so innocent, and John's stomach twisted. In his experience, the more innocent something looked, the more likely it was that it was anything but. He'd agreed to this, though, and he wasn't going to back down. He just needed to try it, and when he told Rodney he didn't like it, Rodney would stop.

Then his hands were full of Rodney, who seemed intent on kissing his fears out of his head. Hands moved over his back, untucking his t-shirt and pulling it up, and he took the opportunity for a breath as it was pulled over his head.

Rodney ducked his head and licked a long path up his neck, making John groan and tilt his head, hoping for more, hoping that Rodney would forget about the damn toys and just kiss him till they both exploded. But Rodney was a man on a mission, and now his hands were busy on the waist of his pants, undoing his belt and unzipping them.

This time the break from kissing was longer, as Rodney worked his pants over his hips and down, pulling them off along with his shoes and socks. John's cock was hard against his belly, and he could feel where it was dripping precome. He shivered.

Rodney pushed him down onto his back, and John went willingly, only a little frustrated when he groped Rodney's ass and came up with a hand full of material. But before he could focus enough to get his hands busy stripping Rodney, they were pushed down and back, so that they were above his head. This wasn't new, wasn't frightening. Rodney frequently wanted to explore John's body, and John had learned the best thing to do was hold still. It usually led to a mind-bending orgasm.

Picking up the little piece of black fabric, Rodney brought it to his face. Only then did John realize that it was a blindfold, and he started to panic. It was one thing to choose to lie still. It was another to allow Rodney to take away one of his senses like this.

"Shh, John. Just try it. If you don't like it, I'll stop," Rodney murmured, even as he slipped the fabric over John's head. John's eyes closed, plunging him into darkness, and, agitated, he opened them again, but he couldn't see anything, not even shapes. The blackness was all encompassing.

"Rodney," he gasped out, reaching out blinding and latching his hand onto Rodney's arm. The contact soothed him, grounded him, and he took a deep breath. Firm hands stroked down his chest, and he settled further.

"It's okay, John. I'm right here." Rodney's voice was soft but steady, and he kept stroking over John's chest until he steadied. When he was finally taking deep breaths, Rodney shifted, only to stop when John clutched at his arm. "I'm not going anywhere. Just want to take my clothes off."

John forced himself to let go, and he could hear as Rodney got off the bed and unzipped his shirt. He kept one on hand on John, for the most part, and by the time the bed dipped and shifted under his weight, John was mostly calm again. "You okay?"

"Um, yeah, but I think we can safely say that the blindfold? Not doing much for me."

Rodney chuckled. "Give it a few minutes, John. I promise, it gets better."

This time, the hand on his chest wasn't a surprise, but the other - the one that started fondling his balls? - that one was a surprise. John couldn't help it. He got hard at Rodney's touch, not that that was a real surprise. His body had already figured it out, that if he let Rodney touch him it would be very very good.

Then a mouth descended on his nipple, and John gasped, loudly. Without being able to see Rodney, there'd been no warning, just hot and wet surrounding his nipple, the sharp scrape of teeth and then the comforting softness of a tongue. It disappeared as swiftly as it had appeared.

That set the pattern. Rodney's hands or mouth would settle on part of John, tease him for a moment or two, and then disappear again. Without sight, John had no way to predict the next part of his body that was going to be touched, and that meant that even places that he'd never thought of as erotic, like his knee and his elbow, were sensitized.

When Rodney spent some unknown amount of time sucking on his biceps, John nearly came right then.

Rodney worked him up, and then backed off, curling around him and resting his head on John's shoulder till he started to calm. Then he started all over again.

When Rodney shifted bodily to lie between John's legs, John couldn't help thrusting up hopefully. The one place that Rodney hadn't touched yet was his cock, and it was positively aching. He just chuckled and lifted John's leg over his shoulder, pulling him open wide.

The flush started at the top of John's head and moved down, leaving heated skin in it's wake. "No, wait..." he said.

"Nope. Not gonna wait anymore, John. I want to taste you, need it." Rodney's voice sounded hoarse, like he was barely holding on himself. Somehow, that made John feel better, to know that he wasn't the only one on the ragged edge.

Then Rodney's tongue brushed over his hole, and he stopped thinking entirely.

"Fuck, fuck, _fuck_." That wet tongue circled him, periodically poking at his entrances, trying to get in. John's hands were tangled together, gripping the headboard as he rocked against Rodney's mouth. He didn't know why he'd resisted this for so long, because it felt absolutely incredible. As it slid inside, he whimpered and turned his head so that he could bite his own arm to keep from howling.

There was something about this, about freely offering to Rodney his body that made everything more intense, and the blindfold made it even more so. Vaguely, John was aware that he was begging for more, and when Rodney stopped, he cried out. "Please. Oh, god, please!"

Slick fingers played with his entrance, toying right there, and Rodney's mouth was sucking a bruise onto his upper thigh. He rocked between the two sensation, trying to get one or the other deeper, and when two fingers entered him, he sucked in a huge whooping breath, only to have it forced back out when Rodney _bit_ him.

He hung there, balanced between Rodney's hand and his teeth for what seemed like eternity. It only ended when Rodney growled and let go of him with his teeth and sat up. The only point of connection between them were Rodney's fingers in his ass, and John groaned.

He felt stretched, but it wasn't enough, wasn't ever going to be enough, and he hissed out a breath, trying to get his body back under control and failing. Two fingers became three, and he took them, moaning. Rodney was speaking, saying something, but John couldn't focus enough to hear him. All he could feel was where Rodney was touching him so intimately.

When they finally slid free, John cried out. He felt empty, and even though he could feel Rodney's body heat against his spread thighs, he felt like he was in free fall without sight to anchor him. Then a hand was back on his chest, soothing him, petting him, and he groaned again. "Don't leave me hanging like this, please?"

"I'm not going to. God, you look so _hot_ like this," Rodney whispered. There were fumbling sounds, and then something broad and rounded was being pressed to his entrance. At first, John thought that it was Rodney's cock, but he hadn't felt Rodney move. Then it slipped inside, and he closed around it. With a jerk, he realized that it must have been one of the beads.

He thought of objecting - each bead had been large, and there were a generous handful of them - but Rodney was already pressing a second one into him. He was still murmuring to him, words like _hot_ and _sexy_ and _please_ and John couldn't say no. Couldn't say anything at all.

Each bead slipped inside him with no fanfare, and as he moved in response to being filled, he could feel them moving and rocking against each other. Sweat dripped off his forehead and down his face, to be absorbed by the blindfold as he took more and more.

Finally, Rodney said, "One more," and then John was full. He couldn't move, could barely breathe. It felt like all of his air had been choked off. "Did I mention," Rodney said, sounding strained, "that these are Ancient?" Before John could do more than think oh, shit, they were _moving_ inside him, vibrating gently.

John cried out and arched up, only to have Rodney's hands on his hips, easing him back down. Then John gasped out as Rodney took his cock into his mouth, taking him deep and sucking hard. Whimpering, John said, "Fuck... I'm, I'm close..."

Rodney pulled off just enough to say, "I know," then went right back to sucking him deep. John tried to hold back, tried to resist the urge to just let go, but the sensations were overwhelming. It was crashing through him like a wave, every touch of Rodney's mouth and hands magnified tenfold, till he couldn't take anymore.

Letting go, he started to come, only to have Rodney pull on the beads, pulling them out in one long rush. The rapid exit of what had had him so full made him scream in pleasure as he whited out.

When he could think again, Rodney was still sucking, nursing him through all the little aftershocks, and slowly, he reached down and touched Rodney's face, urging him off. Rodney's voice sounded desperate when he said, "Please, John, can I - "

Rodney didn't need to finish the sentence for John to know what he needed, so he spread his legs wide, welcoming. It only took a second for Rodney to reposition himself and thrust inside. John was floating, and he groaned at the sensation. It was way too soon for him to be able to get off again, but the sensation of Rodney fucking him, kissing him, was enough.

It didn't take Rodney long before he stilled, coming with a long, pained groan. His kisses grew sloppy, missing John's mouth as often as not, and John had to smile. When Rodney had slipped free and turned so that he was on his side, John turned to face him.

"Close your eyes," Rodney whispered, and when John nodded, he slipped the blindfold off. Slowly, blinking in the light, John opened his eyes. "God, you were beautiful like that," Rodney said softly, and John could feel the blush spreading over his cheeks again.

He felt... good. Sated. His whole body vibrated from the pleasure he'd received from Rodney, and all he wanted to do was bask in it. But there was something important he needed to say first.

"So, tomorrow night? Your turn?"


	2. Talking Without Words

John had been looking forward to a leisurely morning. He and Rodney were both off duty, and that usually meant early morning fooling around, followed by breakfast and then they'd separate to go do whatever they felt like.

But a radio call at three thirty in the morning derailed all of that. John was still blinking sleepily even as he pulled on his vest and clipped the P-90 to it. Oh, well, at least it wasn't _his_ team that was late for check in this time. Now they just had to go fetch Lorne and his team out of whatever hole it was that they'd dug for themselves.

Teyla and Ronon were murmuring softly to each other, and Rodney's voice was raised above theirs for a moment. He appeared to be bitching about the early call, but he was gearing up as fast as the rest of them, and John knew that he didn't really mean it, so he ignored the bitching in favor of listening to Elizabeth.

"They're two hours overdue. The planet isn't inhabited, so they shouldn't have been attacked, but we can't raise them on the radio and there's no one at the 'gate."

Nodding, John checked his 9 mil and then shoved it back into its holster. "So, we're off to see what's taking them so long. Got it. Why were they there, anyway? If it's uninhabited, I mean?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Because Dr. Parrish had spotted some plants on his last visit that bore a superficial resemblance to some earth food plants, and he wanted to get more samples. It didn't seem like a bad idea to me - even with the _Daedalus_ there's always the chance that we'll get cut off from Earth again, and knowing where we could get food would be a good thing."

He nodded again, and then glanced at the rest of the team. They were all ready, and even Rodney had settled down. Double-checking the fasteners on his vest, he led the way to the 'gate room. Glancing up at Chuck, he waited patiently as he dialed the gate. As soon as the horizon had settled, he triggered his radio. "Lorne? Simpson? Parrish? Addison?" He waited a moment, but only got static. "All right, folks, let's go."

Ronon led the way, followed by Teyla and Rodney, and John took their six. They came out into bright sunshine, which made them all blink after the relative darkness of Atlantis during her night cycle. Rodney already had his scanner out, and John moved over next to him as Ronon and Teyla spread out. "Anything?"

"I'm showing a profusion of life readings, Colonel. There's no way to tell with this scanner which is human and which are animals and the subcu isn't registering at all. But I am showing quite a cluster that way," he pointed, "and that would be the first place I'd check."

John glanced at the scanner and agreed. There were at least ten or fifteen little dots clustered together, so it was worth a look. They started out, and they hadn't gone far when John realized there was a major difference in their missions these days - Rodney wasn't bitching the way he used to. A glance at him showed why. Rodney had no reason to bitch. He wasn't huffing and puffing, nor was he sweating profusely. Instead, he was walking with a steady, even pace, one hand on his gun, the other holding the scanner so he could adjust their course as needed.

As they got closer, they could hear shouts and growls. Ronon's shoulders tensed, and Teyla became even more alert, if that were possible. John could feel his own muscles grow tight, and the three of them closed in around Rodney, as if to shield him.

They were moving slower now, letting the sounds guide them. They passed through a clearing, and heard a shout above the others. "Colonel! Look out!"

As one, they turned in the direction of the shout, only to see some sort of large animal loping towards them. It looked like a wolf, but had a huge mane, and was the source of at least some of the growling noises that they could hear. Rodney had already turned to run as Ronon took the shot, which, amazingly, missed. John couldn't bring up his gun fast enough and before anyone could get off another shot, the wolf-lion thing had tackled Rodney to the ground.

Finally, _finally_ he managed to get his gun up, and took the shot, hitting the creature in the head. It gave a yelp and fell. "Rodney? Rodney!" John was already running, but Ronon beat him there, only to turn and crouch. "Sheppard!"

_More_ of those things were coming, and for long moments, it was chaos as they shot as many of them as they could. The last few sniffed at their fallen comrades and then at them, before loping off.

As soon as they left, John was on his feet again, running to Rodney's side, falling to his knees. There weren't any apparent injuries, and he was starting to worry that there might be something on Rodney's front when his head popped up. "Is that thing dead?" he demanded.

Relief made his stomach do lazy flips. "It's dead, Rodney. Now how about you get up?" Rodney grimaced, but rolled onto his back willingly enough, only to exclaim in pain. "What? There's nothing there!"

"Easy for you to say, Colonel. You didn't have what felt like a ton of bricks land on your back." But Rodney was moving to a sitting position, and as John climbed back to his feet to pull Rodney up, he stopped complaining.

John nodded at him, then yelled across the field. "Lorne?"

Four heads poked out from one of the trees, and Major Lorne waived at him. They disappeared, and a few minutes later the shapes of Major Lorne's team took shape, coming across the field. "Man, are we glad to see you," Lorne said, one hand on Parrish's arm to keep him from stepping in any of the blood from the various creatures in the field. "I have no idea how long we were up there."

"Lucky for you that these things don't climb trees. Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're all fine. Thankfully, Simpson heard them coming soon enough to get us all up trees before they got here, but the radios and the guns were on the ground. There's not much left of our campsite, sir - they pretty much busted everything up when they couldn't get at us."

"Well, let's see what we can salvage before we head home. Ronon, Teyla, Simpson and Adderly, you're all on watch while the four of us clean up, okay?" Just then, Parrish got a good look at the creature that had attacked Rodney, lying in a pool of blood.

"Oh, my," he said, woozily, as he swayed in place. Lorne hooked a hand under his arm and held him upright.

"Easy there, Parrish. It's all over with." Looking at John, he tipped his head towards the trees, and at John's nod, led Parrish back. "Let's get you sitting down for a little while."

"Stupid life science people," Rodney grumbled as they followed, but John noticed that his voice was softer than usual, and that he was watching Parrish anxiously.

"Rodney! You've grown as a person, you're not berating Parrish the way that I thought you would."

"Not much point to it, is there? Life science people have limited learning curves, or they'd be in the real sciences."

John chuckled; short circuiting Rodney's normal rant, and followed Parrish and Lorne under the trees. Their campsite was _seriously_ trashed, with both tents shredded beyond repair. The guns had been dragged away, but finding them was rather simple, and most of the equipment was retrievable, if spread over a fairly wide distance.

By the time they'd managed to gather everything together, the sun was high overhead, and as they started the trek back towards the gate, Rodney was bitching about the heat. He'd apparently forgotten about the trauma of being tackled earlier, and that was all to the good. Now if only John could forget it.

As they crossed the gate, John noticed the reassuring small touches that Lorne kept giving Parrish, and he couldn't resist a few touches to his own scientist. Rodney turned to face him and gave him such an open, happy smile that he couldn't keep his own in check, smiling back.

On the other side of the gate, John led the procession down to the infirmary. He stayed with his men long enough to make sure that there were no side effects to the night spent in the trees, and then went to check on Rodney, who was complaining about his back being bruised by the monster that had attacked him. Carson seemed to be taking it in good humor, though, and John left them to it, going to debrief Elizabeth with Parrish, who'd already been cleared.

"So much for a day off," he sighed when they were finished, and Elizabeth smiled at him.

"I think we can change it for tomorrow, for both teams. Stay in radio contact, but if you want to go do something on your own, I think it would be fine."

John grinned. He knew that Elizabeth had her suspicions about him and Rodney, but she didn't ask and he wouldn't tell, giving them all a level of plausible deniability. In the meantime, she seemed to think the two of them were cute, going out of her way to give them downtime together.

"I don't know. Rodney might not agree to leaving the labs unsupervised two days in a row. Kavanaugh might blow up the city or something."

"I think we'll all survive Kavanaugh for another day." And with that, Elizabeth waved him out of the office, and he went to tell Rodney the good news. He made a small detour first, swinging past Rodney's quarters and picking up a few things.

He found Rodney in the lab, berating one of the new scientists whose name he could never remember. He didn't say anything, just moved up behind Rodney and laying a hand on the back of his neck. He could feel the tension draining out of him, and Rodney finished up with a "Now, go and fix it and do it right, for God's sake!" Then he turned to face John. "Is there something I can help you with, Colonel?"

"I just thought I'd let you know that Elizabeth gave us tomorrow off as well, seeing as how we were big heroes this morning."

Rodney grinned at him. "Oh? Did you have any ideas of what we might do with our new found freedom?"

"I thought we might go explore some of the other areas of the city. Just the two of us."

"Well, I should..." John showed Rodney a hint of one of the items he'd liberated from Rodney's nightstand, and he swallowed heavily. "I should leave Radek in charge. Okay, boys and girls. Two days without me, so don't use it as time to find a way to sink the city." John turned to leave, noting with satisfaction that Rodney was following him without a word.

After their experience with the nanovirus, the Atlantis team had instituted procedures for exploring the various labs throughout the city, and John wasn't willing to deal with the protocols. Besides, he knew what he was looking for. Without checking to see if Rodney was following, he led the way to the transporter, selecting an area of the city that had been marked tentatively as living quarters.

Rodney was already breathing heavily as the transporter delivered them to a spot in the western portion of the city. John smiled and did what he'd wanted to do all day - he pulled Rodney in for a deep, knee-weakening kiss.

He responded eagerly, opening his mouth for John's tongue, and it was all he could do to remember that he didn't want this to be fast and hard in a hallway. They didn't have to be on duty again for thirty-six hours. He could take his time. Breaking the kiss, he tried to ignore Rodney's small whimper. "This way."

Several doors were stuck open on the hall, and John gave each a cursory glance as they made their way down. John stopped at the first closed door, and had to really work to will the door open, but it was worth it when he did.

These had obviously been quarters for someone high status, because the room was much larger than their quarters back in the occupied section. More importantly, they had an absolutely huge bed. Turning to face Rodney, he said softly, "Strip."

Rodney looked like he wanted to argue, but when John ostentatiously pulled the toys out of his pockets and laid them on the bed, he shut his mouth and turned his attention to his boots. John had more practice, though, and was already naked by the time Rodney got started on yanking down his pants. While John waited, he pulled the dust cover off the bed, revealing a naked mattress that was fairly clean.

As soon as Rodney was naked, John pulled him in for another of those scorching kisses. "God, I thought I'd lost you today," he said.

Mouth crooked, Rodney ran a soft hand down the side of John's face. "Well, I thought I was pretty damn lost," he said, but his voice held none of the humor that John should have expected with a comment like that.

Neither of them said anything further, pressing their bodies together from shoulders to thighs. Eventually, John tipped them over onto the bed, blanketing Rodney warmly, still kissing.

When he finally pulled back, Rodney looked at him with wide eyes. When he opened his mouth to say something, though, John quieted him with a finger across his lips, shushing him. Kneeling up on the bed, he pulled free the gag that Rodney had bought. Normally, Rodney talked all the way through their encounters, and that made it hard for John to stay in control. Just this once, he was going to get his way.

Rodney started to shake his head, but John smiled. "My turn. You promised, remember?" John wasn't sure what he'd do if Rodney refused, but he figured that Rodney's sense of fair play wouldn't allow him to deny him.

With a glare that John could _feel_, Rodney opened his mouth, and John slid the ball into place, quickly fastening it behind his head. He lifted Rodney's arms and placed them above his head, pressing them into the bed as a silent way of saying, "Stay there."

The harrumph sound that Rodney made was muffled, but John couldn't help the smile. He traced the lines of the gag with his finger, remembering letting Rodney take away his sight the night before, and he knew that this was as hard, if not harder. Rodney relied so much on his voice, but he'd just let John take it away from him.

Rodney's eyes grew wider, and then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The ever-present tension in Rodney's body flowed away and he surrendered to John. John couldn't help closing his own eyes for just a moment, letting the meaning of that surrender sink through him. The trust that Rodney was showing was so overwhelming, John nearly didn't know what to do. Opening them again, he looked down at Rodney, where his fingers were resting against the leather of the gag, and smiled.

He continued that soft touch, trailing his fingers over Rodney's neck, down over his broad chest, pausing to tweak his nipples. He loved Rodney's nipples - they were so sensitive to what he did. Like now. He'd barely brushed them with the tips of his fingers, and they had perked right up, accompanied by a gasp from Rodney and an unintelligible moan.

Unable to resist, he leaned down and took one nipple into his mouth, sucking gently. He felt the muscles in Rodney's chest tighten and release, and a soft sound that could have been a groan, or a muffled word. Flicking his tongue over the tip, he held on tight as Rodney arched below him, arms shifting.

When he finally released the bit of flesh and knelt back up, he realized that Rodney had moved so that he could hook his hands over the edge of the mattress, clinging tightly. Fingering his nipple gently, he gives Rodney a heated look. "You okay?" Rodney nods, eyes wide. "Need me to stop?" This got a vehement shake of Rodney's head, and the look in his eyes was clearly one of _You fucker. Stop and I'll kill you. _

John wanted to laugh, but the sound dried in his throat as he looked at Rodney's face. Instead, he slowly lowered his mouth back down to Rodney's chest, exploring it with his tongue, broad swipes across muscles, the tip over his ribs. Only when Rodney was shuddering under his ministrations did he stop again. This time, the look on Rodney's face was pure pleading and need, and it called to John in ways that he didn't understand. Lying down next to Rodney, he wrapped his arm over his chest, pressing close.

The bad thing about the gag was that John couldn't kiss Rodney, so instead he nipped at the soft skin behind his ear, whispering lewd things into it about how good Rodney looked. "Maybe we should make a trip back. Pick up some restraints." Rodney whimpered and squirmed, and John caught his breath. He'd done that; he'd make Rodney sound like that.

His cock was nestled up against Rodney's thigh, and as he squirmed restlessly, the pressure was good. But it wasn't what John wanted. They had time, and he didn't want to just rut mindlessly against Rodney, he wanted to take their time and do it right for all the times they _hadn't_.

It took an act of will for John to sit back up, but somehow he managed it. While he watched Rodney's face, he reached for the other toy he'd left on the bed. Long and thick, it _looked_ like metal, but felt like rubber in his hands, and as he studied it, it started to glow softly and vibrate in hand. Rodney whimpered again, spreading his legs lewdly in what was an obvious attempt to beg.

Setting the toy back on the bed, John shifted till he was between Rodney's legs. Lying down on his stomach, he shrugged his shoulders underneath Rodney's thighs, lifting his ass up. With his thumbs, he spread Rodney's cheeks, studying the small hidden hole that was revealed.

Rodney whined and planted his heels in John's back, lifting himself higher, and John swallowed. He'd never done this before - Rodney knew that - but he wanted to. Taking a deep breath of air that smelled of Rodney's clean male scent, he leaned his head forward and dragged his tongue along Rodney's entrance.

The silence from above was total - John wasn't even sure that Rodney was breathing. When he glanced up, he could see the muscles in Rodney's stomach twitching as he held his breath. "Breathe," he said, and Rodney sucked in a huge, whooping gasp, and then started to obviously try to say something that was neatly muffled by the gag.

John didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Rodney was begging for him not to stop, and he ducked his head low and started to lick in earnest. It didn't taste bad, just musky, and as the last of his fears were assuaged, he started to try sliding his tongue into Rodney.

The cry that got made him that much more determined, and he did everything he could think of to make it even better for Rodney. Deep sucking kisses, fucking him with his tongue as deep as he could get it. Pulling back and tracing circles around Rodney's hole. He even used his teeth, just lightly, loving the inarticulate sounds that Rodney made.

When his jaw demanded he stop, he rose to his knees, looking down at Rodney, who looked pleasure-drunk. He was no longer making any noise, and his eyes were half-lidded. His cock was hard and tight against his belly, wet at the tip and when John ran a single finger down it, it lifted as if begging to be touched.

Picking up the lube from the bed, John slicked his fingers and slid one inside Rodney's unresisting opening. That got Rodney's attention back on the proceedings, and he canted his hips, obviously trying to take more. John smiled and added a second finger. "God, you're hot like this, Rodney. So eager, so willing. I'm going to make you feel so good."

Rodney made small sounds, pressing down on John's fingers, practically fucking himself on John's hand. As he loosened up, John slid his fingers free and picked the plug back up, slathering it in lube. Placing the tip of the toy at Rodney's entrance, he said, "You want it? Come on, I know you do." Then all he had to do was hold it steady as Rodney pressed into his hands, forcing the toy to slide deep inside himself. John gave it a little help, sliding it past its widest point and getting the toy settled, then palmed the part of the toy still outside Rodney, and thinking _on_ at it.

When it started to vibrate, slowly, Rodney made a muffled noise and his hips jerked up, as if he was trying to fuck the empty air. That gave John ideas. With one hand, he held Rodney down by his hip. "Don't come, Rodney, just lie there and take it for me."

Rodney whined, but his thrashing slowed, and John grinned down at him. Releasing Rodney's hip, he slicked up his other fingers, watching as Rodney's eyes got wide, and then slid them down, behind himself and into his own entrance. Rodney's hands tightened on the edge of the bed, and his breathing sped up as he realized what John was going to do.

John didn't take long, just getting himself slick, before sliding his fingers back out and wrapping them around Rodney's cock, using the remains of the lube on his fingers to wet Rodney's cock. It took some arranging to get himself in position, but he managed it, and slowly slid down Rodney's cock.

His eyelids fluttered at the pleasure overwhelming him, but he forced them open and looked down at Rodney, who was gasping, clutching the bed like it was going to fly away. His jaw worked, but no sound made it past the gag.

He could only guess how overwhelming this was for Rodney, fucking and being fucked at the same time, unable to say or ask for anything. He leaned forward, resting his hands on Rodney's forearms, and started to move. The change in angles pressed Rodney's cock right where he wanted it, and each stroke drove him higher and higher.

Rodney's eyes were wide, staring at him, and his hips were moving slowly, pushing him deeper into John's ass. The obvious emotion and heat in Rodney's eyes overwhelmed John, forcing him to close his own eyes. Leaning down further, he started to whisper into Rodney's ear. "You feel so good inside of me. Hot and thick, so _right_." Rodney made soft sounds, turning his head to nuzzle at John's hair.

Eventually, John had to _move_, cock demanding more than this slow rocking. He sat up straight on Rodney, thigh muscles quivering with the effort of lifting himself up and down, balls drawn up tight against his body. Squirming slightly, gasping at the way Rodney's cock felt, he managed to get a hand on the plug still vibrating inside of him. _Faster, harder_ he willed it, and he can tell from Rodney's frenzied moans and the way that he started thrashing that it worked. He rode it out, willing down his own orgasm with an iron hand.

Once Rodney settled again, though his eyes showed just how frantic he still was, John started to really ride him, moving up and down in measured strokes, his wet hand on his cock, jerking himself off. Rodney's eyes were locked on him, the intensity of how blue they were startling. His orgasm was building, outstripping his ability to control it, and he could feel the lightning caressing all of the nerves in his body. "Close, Rodney, so close... Gonna come, gonna..." and then he started to come, striping Rodney's chest and stomach. At the first touch of his come to Rodney's skin, Rodney made a louder noise, a cry, and John could feel the warmth flooding him.

His movements slowed and eventually stopped, leaving him slumped on top of Rodney, trying to catch his breath. Below him, Rodney twitched, his eyes fluttering shut, and John realized that plug was still buzzing. Somehow he managed to work one hand down so as to turn it off. Leaving it in place, he slid off Rodney's cock, sprawling next to him on the bed. Rodney made an inquisitive sound, and John huffed a laugh, reaching up with hands that were shaking to undo the gag.

"Oh, my god," said Rodney, turning gingerly so that he could gather John up in his arms. John smiled and moved closer to Rodney's comforting bulk. They weren't cuddling - or at least they wouldn't call it that - but there was something reassuring about being held like this. He thought he could stay there awhile.

Rodney was talking about how intense it had been, and how good it had felt, and John gradually drifted off to the sound of his voice.


End file.
